The aim of this review paper is to give an overview of the research activities of GKSS in the field of polymer based membranes. After summarizing the historic development of membrane science at GKSS, it describes different classes of polymeric materials for membranes, and the characterization of membranes. The design of membrane‐based separation processes followed by examples of applications will also be presented. In the last chapter we will try to give an outlook for the future activities in membrane research.

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A mass-tagged N-mesityl imidazolinium salt with four additional -CH(2)NCy(2) substituents was synthesized, leading to a molecular mass of nearly 1100 g mol(-1) in the corresponding carbene ligand. This mass-tagged ligand was used to generate the respective Grubbs II and Grubbs-Hoveyda type complexes. The catalytic activity of the latter complex was tested in several olefin metathesis reactions and found to be slightly superior to that of the related N-mesityl based complex. In batchwise solvent resistant nanofiltration experiments the ruthenium complex dissolved in toluene and following a metathesis reactions was efficiently retained (>99.8 %) by a single nanofiltration; the permeate contained less than 4 ppm of Ru. Equally efficient catalyst retention was observed in a membrane reactor utilized for the continuous synthesis of a RCM product.

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An increasing number of hybrid processes consisting of conventional unit operations and vapour permeation modules have been suggested in recent years. To facilitate accurate process design, rigorous models of this novel membrane process are essential. By comparing experimental results obtained from a pilot plant, it was shown that simply solving the material balances and assuming constant permeances is not sufficient to predict the operating behaviour of a vapour permeation module. In order to reflect the experimental results it was necessary to consider the concentration, temperature and pressure dependency of the permeation process through the membrane as well as the mass transfer restriction in the boundary layer on the feed side. The introduced model is capable of taking account of these effects and predicts the experimental results satisfactorily. The model was written using the commercial, equation-oriented process simulator Aspen Custom Modeler 2 and hence can easily be integrated with commercial process simulation packages. # 2003 Society of Chemical IndustryKeywords: vapour permeation; process integration; process simulation; process design; ethanol dehydration